Regrets
by Alyssa Andromeda Black
Summary: Naruto, after having a near death experiance decides he can not have any regrets in his life. NaruSasu SasuNaru Shonenai
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I lay claim for any of the characters therein. I am in no way profiting from this fan fic.

Warnings: Language, violence (though it's not bad), Shonen-ai.

Regrets Ch.1

It started off like any normal day for team 7. Standing at the bridge waiting for their sensei, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were acting their usual selves. A bright smile directed towards Sakura from the sunny blonde, a cold glare directed to both Naruto and Sakura from the brooding Uchiha, and constant attempts for attention and girlish squeals from the bubblegum haired girl towards said Uchiha. Yes, everything was going just the way it always does, until to their shock, their sensei Kakashi showed up only five…yes _five_ minutes late. Sasuke raised a slender brow in question while Naruto and Sakura stared, mouths wide open in shock. Before they could say anything, their teacher held up a hand and gave them a serious look.

"We have a mission today." At this, the blonde gave and excited yell while bouncing up to Kakashi. Said jounin looked down at the blonde, a somewhat concerned expression on his face. Noticing their teachers unusual attitude, the three Genin quieted down and waiting for an explanation. Kakashi kept his eyes on Naruto and began to explain what the mission required of them.

"We have been assigned to help the villagers put up stands for the festival in two days." At this, the blonde's smile fell and his sapphire eyes darkened considerably. "Now Naruto, I know that usually the Hokage doesn't assign you missions within the village during this particular time of year, however Konoha is short on ninja lately due to the lingering affects of the attacks from both Sound and Akatsuki. She told me to let you know she would make it up to you somehow."

Naruto was upset. For the past five years, ever since Tsunade had been given the title of Hokage; she had made certain that he didn't have to be near the villagers during the week of the festival. On the one hand, Naruto was grateful to be kept away from the villagers during this time. They were particularly nasty when the celebration of the defeat of Kyuubi came around. On the other hand, he hated it; hated that he had to stay away from all the people that did care for him on his own birthday; even though he had never told anyone his birthday except for Iruka anyways.

He had been thinking on it a lot lately. He was used to being alone for holidays and his birthday, because he had done it all his life. But now that he had so many people who he considered friends, he found himself completely fed up. He wanted to celebrate, even if it's only once. It was his eighteenth birthday after all, and for once he just wanted to have fun with the people he cared about. With that in mind, he looked up at Kakashi and gave a wide grin, somewhat startling the older man.

"That's fine Kakashi-sensei, I was thinking about sticking around for my birthday this year anyways." His teacher and teammates stared at him silently for what seemed an eternity.

"What?" He asked, slightly annoyed. "I'm always away so I never bothered telling anyone when my birthday was."

Sasuke recovered first, turning away while muttering a quick _"Dobe"_, while Sakura looked a mix between annoyed and hurt that the blonde had kept his birthday of all things from her for so long, granted she had never really noticed they never celebrated Naruto's birthday anyways, but that wasn't the point! She thought they were friends dammit!

"Alright everyone," Kakashi clapped his gloved hands together to get their attention. "Let's get going, we have a lot of work to do today." With that the four headed off towards the center of town to help out the villagers.

The sun had long since set by the time team 7 had gotten the last booth set up. When the villagers saw Naruto was in the team assigned to help with preparation, they refused to help set their own booths up, hell they refused to even tell the team how they wanted it set up. So with much irritation they had done it how they thought would be best and if those assholes didn't like it they could go fuck themselves. At least this was how Naruto was thinking at the moment. He had suffered through numerous spats of verbal abuse all day and now he was just sick and fucking tired of it, he swore he was going to snap and kick the ever living shit out of the next person that called him a fucking monster.

Kakashi too was having a hard time keeping his temper at bay. He cared for Naruto almost like one would care for a son and seeing the blonde get abused by these people was really wearing on his nerves. He looked at the boy again and noticed his eyes slowly darkening into a lavender like color. _Not good_ he thought to himself, swiftly walking towards the blonde.

"Naruto, you need to calm yourself." Said boy glared heatedly at his sensei before shrugging him off and stomping away from his team. Sasuke watched on, his face carefully blank as the blonde headed home. To his right, Sakura watched her teammate walk away from them sadly. She had heard every thing that the villagers had said to him throughout the day and she couldn't help but feel bad for him. She knew they didn't like the blonde, but she had never heard them insult him so badly. _They kept calling him a monster, a murderer. Naruto hasn't done anything bad enough to warrant that kind of hatred so what the hell is going on._ Kakashi looked at his two remaining students, and with a sort of depressed sigh, told them to go home and get some rest.

Naruto couldn't remember a time when he was more pissed off. He stomped into his tiny apartment, tearing off his forehead protector and throwing it forcefully across the room. For the life of him he couldn't understand why he wanted to become the leader of these damn people. No matter how angry he got about the way they treated him, he never stopped caring about this village. Truth be told if he really wanted to he could've released Kyuubi a long time ago and let her…yes _her_ destroy every last person here if he really wanted to. He sighed at his thoughts and raked his fingers through his blonde locks. It had been years since he had felt this overwhelming need to cry.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't notice the shadows lurking in his darkened room until they were upon him. He was brutally knocked to the hard wood floor, a knee digging painfully into his spine. He strained his neck and saw three shadows, one pinning him down and two standing over him. The one pinning him suddenly flipped him over so that he got a clear view of his assailants, or rather their ANBU masks.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, get off me you bastard!" The three masked men chuckled at his outburst and slowly drew kunai. Naruto began to panic slightly and struggled, desperately trying to get out from under the obviously stronger shinobi that was straddling his waist.

Two strategically placed senbon into his shoulders rendered his arms useless. The three ANBU pulled the blonde to his feet and began a brutal attack. Kunai slashed at the Kyuubi vessel, slicing deeply into his flesh. Blood was everywhere, Naruto noticed while struggling to remain conscious.

The largest of the three, a man with a hawk mask grabbed the blonde by the hair and threw him onto his small bed. They all surrounded him, shouting hateful insults that Naruto barely heard. His vision was beginning to grow dark.

_I'm going to die here. I don't want to die yet! I haven't accomplished my dream. And what about Iruka and Tsunade, I didn't get to say goodbye! I never got to tell Sasuke that I..._

Tears began to fall soundlessly from the sapphire eyes of the boy as he stared up at his ceiling. His attackers took notice and gave him a disgusted look before raising their kunai, getting ready to issue the final blow.

His mouth opened it a silent scream as the sharp blades entered his already slashed chest and stomach. Blood began flowing freely from his mouth and white hot pain seared through his body.

_Kit you've got to stay awake, just a while longer. I need time to heal the worst of it._

_Kyuubi? I'm sorry but I-I can't stay awake._

"Sasuke." The quiet whisper escaped his lips just before everything went black.

The next morning found Sasuke and Sakura standing on the bridge as per usual, waiting for their sensei. Both were feeling uneasy at the absence of their blonde teammate. Naruto had been late before sure, but never two hours late. They figured maybe Kakashi gave him the day off or something since it was his birthday. As if on cue their sensei popped onto the bridge in a swirl of grey smoke.

"Yo! Sorry I'm late, there was this pixie that lost her way from pixie land and needed me to…hey where's Naruto?"

Both Sasuke and Sakura looked at their sensei with slight worry at that. The Uchiha chose to step forward and voice his question.

"You mean you didn't give him the day off?" Kakashi shook his head to indicate that he hadn't. Sakura looked even more worried now.

"It's not like him to be this late, or to not show up at all. We should go see if he's sick." Sasuke and Kakashi nodded their agreement and the three made their way towards the blonde's shabby apartment complex.

Upon their arrival, they noticed that Naruto's door was partially opened. They gave each other a glance before pushing into the house. Sasuke immediately noticed what looked like a puddle on the floor near the kitchen and walked over to look at it. As he grew closer, the sharp metallic scent hit his nose and he noticed the dark red color.

"Blood, it's blood." He stood quickly and glanced around, noticed there was a trail leading to a closed door. He waved the other two over and pulled out a kunai, preparing to face an intruder if anyone was in the house. He grabbed the knob and slowly turned it before flinging the door open.

The three were definitely not prepared for what they saw. Sakura immediately burst into tears and ran outside, trying to keep the bile rising in her throat at bay. Sasuke stood in shock at the sight of his blonde teammate lying on the bed covered in blood with Kunai jutting from his torso.

He was snapped out of his daze when Kakashi rushed by him. Just as he was about to reach out and check for a pulse, the blondes eyes snapped open. Blood red irises stared at the intruders menacingly as a low growl rumbled in the boy's chest.

The masked Nin slowly began backing away, already knowing what was happening, Sasuke however, had no idea and marched up to the blonde angrily.

"Dammit Dobe you scared us half to death! This was a really sick prank Naruto." The blondes head tilted slightly to the side and red eyes became unfocused for a moment as if he was having an internal conflict.

The boy quickly snapped from his trance and red eyes snapped up to look the Uchiha head on.

"You're lucky my kit likes you brat or I'd rip that pretty head clean off." The voice that came from the blonde was animalistic and frightening and very female.

"What the fuck?" Sasuke looked to Kakashi, He had seen Naruto's eyes go red before but now the blonde's voice was changed too and though Sasuke wouldn't admit it he was completely freaked out by it.

"Kyuubi?" Kakashi stepped forward and questioned the blonde.

"What now?" The Kyuubi snapped irritably. Dammit she was tired and these brats wouldn't just leave her in peace. Kakashi's mouth opened and closed a few times as if he didn't know what he had wanted to ask. She gave an irritated sigh and glanced down at the Kunai still imbedded in her kits body.

"You," She pointed to the silver haired man. "Come pull these blasted knives out of my kits body. I can't heal him while they are there. Said Jounin moved cautiously towards the blonde and reached a hand out to grab the hilt of one Kunai. He really didn't want to do this. Seeing them in Naruto was bad enough, and now he had to pull them out and see just how deep the wounds were. He heaved a heavy sigh and yanked hard, pulling the first knife from the blonde's chest and watched in awe as the wound slowly began to stitch itself closed.

Once the wound was completely healed, Kyuubi sat panting heavily. She had used far too much of her chakra last night keeping the boy alive and healing the internal damage and smaller wounds around the imbedded Kunai. Once she caught her breath, she nodded to Kakashi to remove the second one. This continued in the same manner until all three were out and the wounds were completely healed over.

She fell back against the pillows and looked up to the masked man and nodded her thanks before glancing to a still silent Sasuke.

"Brat, stay with my Kit while he rests. He doesn't want to be alone." With that she closed her eyes and the blonde's body went limp, indicated he was asleep. Kakashi looked and Sasuke and motioned for him to sit.

"Stay with Naruto, I'm going to calm Sakura down and get her home. Then I'm going to report to Hokage-sama and let Iruka know what's happened. Let us know when he wakes up." Sasuke nodded his understanding and took a seat on the floor next to the blonde's bed, continuing to watch him intently.

Blue eyes slowly fluttered open and glanced to the clock on his right. It indicated that it was 2:15 am. He muttered a few curses about waking in the middle of the night before a slight shift alerted him to something on his bed. He glanced down towards his right elbow and saw a head of dark hair resting the edge of his bed and long pale fingers curled into the blankets.

_Sasuke_

He smiled softly at his teammate and slowly brought a hand up, running tanned fingers through silky black locks. Sasuke's eyes fluttered open and he slowly looked up into Naruto's soft gaze. The blonde paused in his stroking of the Uchiha's hair for a moment before smiling softly at said boy and continuing.

"Hey you should lay down up here; the floor can't be very comfortable." Sasuke looked a little unsure so Naruto grabbed the boy by his shoulders and hauled him into the bed with him. He gently pulled the covers around them both before resuming his petting of the Uchiha's ebony locks.

Sasuke was slowly becoming more aware of his surroundings and grew tense under the blonde's gentle caress. Naruto noticed this and rolled onto his side to face the other boy, raising a slender golden brow in question.

"Why are you petting me Dobe?" Sasuke was nervous. He was in unfamiliar territory and he figured if he insulted the blonde, things would become more normal. Naruto chuckled softly at Sasuke's attempt to goad him into an argument. Now that he looked at it differently, it was kind of cute the way the Uchiha always called him Dobe, almost like a pet name.

Last night, or at least he was assuming it was last night, considering how sore he still was, was a major wake up call for him. He had been so close to death and with so many regrets and that scared him. Naruto didn't want any regrets when he died. Especially when it came to the people he cared about. He rolled onto his back and stared up to the ceiling before ghosting his hand down the pale arm of the Uchiha to interlace their fingers.

"I-I almost died last night Sasuke." He vaguely noticed the pale boys grip tightening on his hand when he whispered this. "I realized, that I had so many regrets, and that scared me. I'm lucky that I lived, that Kyuubi worked so hard to keep me alive. And now, I can't have anymore regrets in my life. It's only a matter of time until death will come upon me again, what with Akatsuki after me. I just…I can't have anything in my life to regret ever again. I never want to feel that way again, like I had failed everyone I cared about."

Sasuke listened to the blonde's hushed voice as he told him this. Truth be told, Naruto was being far too serious for his liking and he was starting to scare him. Naruto brought their joined hands up to eye level and marveled at the difference in size and color. He really had never noticed how much smaller and paler Sasuke's hands were then his own. He lowered their hands gently atop his chest before turning to face Sasuke once again.

"I'm sorry Sasuke; I know this is weird for you." The Uchiha attempted to give him a cold glare, but it ended up looking more like an upset frown than anything else. The blonde untangled their hands and reached up to gently trace Sasuke's jaw.

"You're my best friend, you know that? Ever since we were little I always wanted to be better than you, in hopes that you would notice me. I thought that maybe if I could beat you, then you would look at me as an equal and eventually a friend. Once we were placed on the same team, I got to know you little by little and for whatever reason, I grew completely attached to you." He paused and looked into the Uchiha's eyes, which were wide with shock and the blonde though it made Sasuke look incredibly innocent and cute.

"Naruto I…." He was cut off by a tanned finger pressing against his lips.

"Let me finish Sasuke, please." The pale boy nodded and Naruto continued.

"When you left for Orochimaru, I couldn't believe it at first. I woke up after our fight and Kakashi said you had gone. I blamed myself of course, thinking if only I had worked harder to become stronger, I could have beaten you and you wouldn't have left me." He started stroking the black locks again before taking a deep breath and continuing. "Back then I was too young to understand why it was so important for you to accept me. I mean we were only thirteen. As the years passed, I never gave up searching for you. I found that you were always on my mind. Then one day I noticed that something wasn't right about the way I thought about you. I wasn't thinking like a rival or even a friend, and the next time I saw you, when I finally dragged you back, that's when it hit me." The hand in Sasuke's hair stopped and trailed down to grasp his hand again. At this point the Uchiha was close to tears. He never imagined that he would have Naruto spilling his heart out to him like this.

"Sasuke, when I brought you back, that moment I first saw you; all I wanted to do was grab you and never let go again. I realized then, the reason I was always striving for your approval. It was because I'm in love with you. I always have been. And I don't think I'll ever be able to stop." Naruto eye's met Sasuke's again, and he was surprised to see them wet with unshed tears. He slowly reached out and brushed his fingers along a pale cheek before smiling softly at the Uchiha.

Sasuke released a muffled sob as tears slowly began to leak from his eyes. He grabbed the front of Naruto's shirt and buried his face into his neck, crying out all the years of anguish that he had never released, crying out his regret of everything he'd ever done to the blonde. Naruto wrapped his arms tightly around Sasuke's shaking form and sat them both up before pulling the pale boy into his lap.

They held each other for what seemed like an eternity before Sasuke quieted down and slowely pulled back to look into bright, ocean blue eyes. He brought his pale fingers up, gently cupping Naruto's face. They both leaned in slowly, each watching the other for any hesitation.

Lips brushed gently together, barely applying any pressure. The pulled back and looked into each other's eyes before leaning in again, once again a gentle brush before Sasuke pushed forward adding more pressure. Naruto took it from there, slipping his fingers into the Uchiha's hair and pulling him closer before gliding his tongue along the seam of Sasuke's mouth, silently begging for entrance. After a moment, he slowly parted his jaw and Naruto wasted no time in diving straight in. Both boys moaned in total bliss as their tongues twined and battled for dominance. Sasuke's sweet taste combined with Naruto's spicy one was intoxicating to both boys; they could seem to get enough of each other.

The need for air caused them to reluctantly pull apart. The Uchiha rested his head on Naruto's shoulder, now completely exhausted from all the emotional strain. The blonde sensed his fatigue and gently lay back. Once his head hit the pillows, he rolled Sasuke off of his chest to lie next to him. He briefly noted the boy had already fallen asleep. He turned over to face the Uchiha's back, pulling him against his chest and intertwining their fingers and giving Sasuke a quick kiss on the back of the neck before falling into blissful slumber.

A/N: So was it bad? Good? Just ok? I'll update if I get enough reviews. In the meantime I'm working on updating all my other stories and writing a Yakitate Japan fic. Anyhoo Review please.


	2. Update AN

Hello lambs! I haven't been on in sooooo long! I've been reading all of the reviews and messages that you guys send to me and it makes me so happy that you enjoy these stories. It's been a rough couple of years, dear readers, but your continued support is inspirational. I'll be updating all of my incomplete stories over the next few weeks, starting with Perpetual Darkness. It will take some time, mind, I'm currently in University full time aaaaaaand I'm working on a novel! I'll let you guys join me in the process for sure! I hope that you will all love my original characters and stories as much as you love what I've done in my work here. All my love, my darlings! Stay tuned for updates!

3 A.A.B


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